Which city has the world's best taxis?

By CNN Staff

Updated 4:18 AM ET, Wed November 6, 2013

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5. Mexico City (tie) – Mexico City retired its (in)famous VW Beetle taxis last year, marking the end of a pollution-belting era for the city. Hotels.com voters don't seem to mind. Bugs or no bugs, Mexico City's taxis tied for fifth spot on the website's survey of the "world's best taxis."

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5. Madrid (tie) – Madrid's taxis, easily recognizable by the bright red stripe that cuts across the front doors, also scored high marks among Hotels.com voters. The Spanish capital tied for fifth with Mexico City and Amsterdam.

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5. Amsterdam (tie) – Though Amsterdam is most famous for its bicycles and canal cruises, its taxis are no slouch in the transportation department either. Four percent of the Hotels.com respondents gave the Dutch city their vote, putting it into a three-way tie with Madrid and Mexico City.

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4. Berlin – Rows of taxis wait to pick up passengers from the main terminal of Berlin's Tegel (Otto Lilienthal) airport. Berlin reclaimed its position in the top five list, earning fourth place with 5% of the vote.

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3. Tokyo – Though Tokyo's taxis are considered the most expensive in the world, it seems you get what you pay for: a nice ride. Japan's capital came in third on the survey, earning 9% of votes. Bonus fact: Japanese taxi drivers never accept tips -- they'll likely return any gratuity, assuming you've made a mistake with the fare.

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2. New York – Though New York lost out to London in the world's best taxi rankings, it grabbed the top spot when it came to availability (23%) and tied with Bangkok for first in terms of value for money (20%).

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1. London – All hail the king -- again. London's iconic hackney carriages secured 22% of the taxi survey votes, making it a clear winner. Of the 30 countries surveyed, London topped the list across five of the seven categories -- cleanliness, knowledge of the area, quality of driving, friendliness and safety.

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Story highlights

London taxis voted best in the world in survey by Hotels.com

Voters consider safety their top taxi priority, followed by value for money

Brits are the most amorous taxi passengers, according to the Hotels.com survey

When it comes to taxis, London reigns supreme.

For the sixth year in a row, the city's iconic black cabs were voted best in the world in a survey by Hotels.com.

More than 2,500 voters from 30 countries took part in the annual global taxi survey, giving London 22% of the votes -- well ahead of runners up New York City (10%) and Tokyo (9%).

Rounding out the top five, Berlin came in fourth place with 5% of the vote, while Madrid, Mexico City and Amsterdam came in joint fifth with 4%.

"Of the 30 countries surveyed, London topped the list across five of the seven categories, including cleanliness (23%), knowledge of the area (27%) and quality of driving (30%)," said Hotels.com.

Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) voted safety as their number one taxi priority, which London's cabs also ranked highest on.

New York's yellow taxis grabbed the top spot for availability (23%).

New York and Bangkok taxis tied for first in terms of value for money (20%). Despite this recognition, Thailand's capital failed to crack the top five this year.